2024-10-14 14:26:00
About 60% of the residents of the Western Negev have symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression and about 50% of its residents have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. This is according to a study published today (Monday) by the association “New Land Now”, the research and strategy company Indicate and researchers from Tel Aviv University and Tel Hai College.
The study, conducted to mark the anniversary of the October 7 attack and the start of the war, surveyed a sample of 503 residents of the Western Negev, including residents of cities, kibbutzim, settlements, communal settlements and Bedouin settlements. The study reviewed the profound effects of the war on the levels of personal, community and national resilience and the levels of security and danger felt by the residents of the area. 58% of respondents testified that they were directly harmed or harmed family members in the Hamas surprise attack on Israel.
The results of the study showed that the type of settlement has a significant impact on the feeling of social integration, community resilience, general morale and hope for the future. Most of the residents of Bedouin settlements in the Western Negev region (53.6%) think that the level of community resilience in their region is low. Only 7.1% feel that the level of community resilience is high. Among the residents of the kibbutzim, a clear majority (70.3%) defined the community’s level of resilience as “average”, as did the residents of the Jewish cities (69.3%). Even among the Jews, only a relatively small number of residents testified that the level of community resilience in their area is high (20.2% and 13.5%, respectively).
A house in Kibbutz Nirim after the October 7 attack. In a study conducted near the beginning of the war among the Jewish settlements in the region, the level of social integration was defined as high (Photo: Yossi Aloni/Flash 90)
It is also clear that the morale of the residents of the cities in the Western Negev region is higher than the morale of the residents of the moshavim and the kibbutzim. A relatively high percentage of respondents from kibbutzim and moshavim (28%) reported a low level of morale, compared to 12% of those living in the cities. At the same time, 13% of the respondents in the cities reported a high level of morale, while only 4% of the respondents in the kibbutzim and moshavim reported this.
As for the sense of social cohesion, it was found to be high at the beginning of the war, but showed a sharp decline as it continued. The researchers claim that in a study conducted near the beginning of the war among the Jewish settlements in the region, the level of social integration was defined as high. But now, a high percentage of respondents from both types of settlement see that the level of social integration is low – 46% in cities and 55% in kibbutzim and moshavim. But at the same time, a higher percentage of the population of the cities sees the level of social integration as high – 4% compared to one percentage in the kibbutzim and moshavim. In addition, only 28% of city residents testified that they have a high level of hope, while only 14% of kibbutzim and moshavim residents testified as such.
More than 50% of the residents questioned reported that they still feel a sense of danger and are afraid to live in the area, while 15% of the residents of Bedouin settlements reported high feelings of danger, a high rate compared to the other two types . of the settlement (8% in kibbutzim/moshavim and 10% in cities). In addition, high percentages of respondents from the three types of settlements reported “medium” feelings of danger (53% in cities, 61% in kibbutzim and 44% in Bedouin settlements.
“Growth potential will allow a return home”
Those surveyed in the study were also asked about their perception of the educational infrastructure currently available to their children. The average level of satisfaction with the education system in the whole sample was medium-low, and recorded a score of 2.6 out of 5, where 96% in all types of settlement showed low or medium satisfaction with the level of education. In addition, 54% of all those surveyed reported damage to their livelihood after the war, with the Bedouin settlements reporting the most significant damage to their livelihood to a significant extent of 76%, as did 56% of the residents of the kibbutzim and moshavim. . In the cities the situation was better, where “only” 45% of those surveyed reported damage to their livelihood.
Regarding the amount of aid that the residents of the Western Negev received from the state, a significant difference was found between the different settlements. 91% of Bedouin settlement residents reported low assistance, as did 62% of city residents, and 19.4% of city residents reported receiving high-level financial assistance from the state. In contrast, in the kibbutzim and moshavim, only 24.3% reported receiving a low level of financial assistance, while 36.3% reported receiving a high level of financial assistance from the state. It should be noted that the amount of damage varies greatly between the different types of settlements, where the kibbutzim in the area were hit more than the other settlements in most cases.
Ministry of Finance in Jerusalem. Only 19.4% of city residents reported receiving high-level financial assistance from the state (Photo: Yonatan Zindel/Flash 90)
My uncle Gabaichairman of the association “New Land Now” and a member of Kibbutz Reim: “Our goal in collecting the data and the Resilience Insights Association is to generate potential for growth, entrepreneurship and construction and thus allow residents of the West Negev to return home. As a resident of Raim, my understanding is that all issues related to the reconstruction and development of the West Negev should happen from the bottom up, that is, through the people of the West Negev and under their leadership. To do this, it is important to listen carefully to the needs of the residents, analyze them using advanced research tools and implement operations in the field.”
“The data is very disturbing and forces us as a society and as a country to recognize the severity of the mental damage over time on the residents of the Otaf and the gap that is growing between the residents of the Otaf and the rest of the population,” he said Professor Yossi Levy Blazfrom the Center for the Study of Suicide and Mental Illness in Robin. “Therefore, it is essential to build targeted mental health systems, together with activities to increase a sense of belonging, connection and collective support. Building trust, especially among the residents of the Otaf, is essential to the reform. national resilience , and we must act to ensure an immediate and tailored response to their mental needs.”
“We intend to collect the data regularly so that the voice of the residents of the Western Negev region can be heard in front of all the bodies dealing with the rehabilitation of the communities, and to measure the level of effectiveness of all programs that are implemented in practice to present. ,” she notes Professor Broria Adini from Tel Aviv University. “In this way, it will be possible to measure the impact of each of the rehabilitation programs on the Western Negev settlements, in order to strengthen successful programs and improve the repair burden.”
Ben AbrahamiCEO Indicate Research and Strategy: “I welcome the opportunity to bring to light the tools and expertise we have developed to monitor and analyze discourse on social networks among various sectors of Israeli society. It is hoped that the deep insights we have generated will contribute significantly to the factors currently facing the challenges of resilience and development in the Western Negev. It is particularly interesting to see how the qualitative analysis of the network discourse complements the results of the quantitative survey, and together they create a comprehensive and in-depth picture of the situation.”
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